Operation Petticoat (1959)

A common problem for war movies is a shortage of female characters. Maybe that's a reason I thought to check out this one, where female presence is a key plot point. Of course, the year of release wasn't promising for a good depiction thereof.

When a World War II U.S. Navy submarine, the Sea Tiger, gets blown up in a Pacific harbor before it can ever participate in battle, LCDR Sherman (an arguably too old Cary Grant) badly wants it rebuilt. He gets a mixed blessing in new LT Holden (Tony Curtis), who is highly irregular and good at stealing, generally to the undersupplied crew's benefit. Things are already pretty comedic for the barely functional sub before the real awkwardness begins, when Holden rescues five stranded U.S. Army nurses. (We're told the Sea Tiger was their only hope, but we have to ignore ships in the background.) Never mind the old sailor superstition that women on ships spell bad luck; how can Sherman hope to maintain any discipline?

A Woman's Face (1941)

Once again, George Cukor directs an MGM feature with a feminine focus in the title and a nasty role for Joan Crawford. This one has a tighter plot and is set in Sweden, thanks to the play on which it's based. (OK, I'm having trouble finding good info on the play, but there was a Swedish adaptation in 1938.)

Blackmail ringleader Anna (Crawford) has spent most of her life with burn scars on the right half of her face, aversions to fire and mirrors, and misanthropy, especially toward beautiful people, tho she makes an exception for seductive Torsten (Conrad Veidt). When she unexpectedly meets a great and charitable plastic surgeon, Gustaf (Melvyn Douglas)...well, see how Crawford usually looked on screen in those days. Anna's a lot less bitter once people admire her appearance, but wickedness doesn't dry up overnight, especially if you've been keeping wicked company. In particular, Torsten hopes she still has what it takes to serve as a governess to his four-year-old nephew, Lars-Erik (Richard Nichols), only to bump him off to secure Torsten a bigger inheritance from Uncle Magnus (Albert Bassermann).

Barfi! (2012)

Can you tell this is a foreign title? It's one of the most off-putting I've read since the Barf detergent brand. But as the exclamation point suggests, this is partly a comedy, so the distaste may be deliberate.

The protagonist (Ranbir Kapoor) is officially named Murphy, but since he's always been deaf, he can't speak well, hence the nickname. Raised only by his impoverished father, Jung (Akash Khurana), he has had little discipline and keeps getting in trouble with the police, particularly Inspector Dutta (Saurabh Shukla). He and the beautiful Shruti (Ileana D'Cruz) fall for each other, but her parents disapprove and she sticks with a preexisting engagement, only to find him popping up in her life again and again. When Jung needs expensive medical care, he hopes to collect a ransom on his wealthy childhood friend, Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra), who has autism and a crush on him.

DragonHeart (1996)

I half-surprised myself with this choice. The movie didn't tempt me even when new (and I was more in the target age range), and it's not particularly esteemed or widely discussed. Nevertheless, it won some lesser-known awards, it's had enough of a cult following for multiple sequels, and a late online acquaintance of mine used the dragon's face as an icon. Besides, I felt like watching a dragon.

In an alternate medieval England, an English-speaking dragon with a name unpronounceable to humans (the only voice role I've known for Sean Connery), who later answers to Draco, donates half his heart to save newly crowned young King Einon (David Thewlis) from a lethal wound, on the condition that Einon stick to the old code of honor in contrast to his despotic dad. Alas, all he took to, eheh, heart from mentor Sir Bowen (Dennis Quaid) was sword fighting, so he becomes no kinder a king. Since Bowen hadn't noticed this side of his charge before, he mistakenly assumes that Draco corrupted Einon and swears to kill every dragon he can.

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

I took this long to get to this Academy Best Picture nominee because, apart from the DVD wait time, it sounded predictable. Another auto race flick, and judging from respective reputations, I could guess who won by virtue of underdog status. Still, it is nonfiction, however loaded with anachronisms and other errors, and has two highly watchable leads.

In the 1960s, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) is furious that his company has become something of a laughingstock. Who should answer his demand for a good idea but Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), who taps former champion racer turned auto company founder Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to design a car that might break Enzo Ferrari's (Remo Girone) winning streak at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby makes controversial, job-threatening decisions in this effort, not least in insisting that the main tester and racer be broke mechanic Ken Miles (Christian Bale, in one of the few times I've heard him act with a British accent), who is excellent on both counts but hard to work with.

Death on the Nile (1978)

Only after watching did I become aware that another adaptation of the Agatha Christie book is coming out this year. This information does not make me regret my choice; if anything, it makes me gladder. If the remake is reputedly good, I'll be in a fine position to compare both versions.

I was particularly interested in seeing how, besides the exact setting and vehicle, the story differs from Murder on the Orient Express, which I both read and saw the 1974 movie of. Once again, famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov herein) must figure out which of many passengers committed murder in transit. The first obvious difference is that DotN, at least in this version, doesn't have any death until about halfway in. Before that, we get pretty well acquainted with the guests, whose actors include Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, David Niven, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury. Poirot does, too, observing them slyly as if he fully expects a murder. Hey, detectives should pick up on patterns in their own lives.

Parasite (2019)

I don't normally put off Best Picture Oscar winners. My main reason for doing so this time was that it sounded thrilling enough for me to reserve for October. On further reflection, it hardly seemed a horror. By then, I had to wait out the Netflix disc availability lag.

In modern South Korea, the impoverished Kim family discovers a golden opportunity to become servants -- the father a chauffeur, the mother a housekeeper, the son a tutor, and the daughter an art therapist -- for the affluent Park family. Since the Parks would be unlikely to hire four people they knew to be related, the Kims pose as strangers to each other, in addition to faking their expertise. The charade works masterfully. But when the Parks go on vacation, the Kims discover they're not the only, well, parasitic presence in the mansion. There comes a conflict of interest, and the only perceived way to avoid prosecution involves potentially lethal force.

Frozen II (2019)

I had planned to see this in a theater but put it off too long. Maybe I was too afraid it would be...not bad, but far below its predecessor, which I loved. It did get pretty mixed reviews. Still, I doubted that Missing Link deserved a Best Animated Feature nomination more. Maybe one piece set in 19th-century snowy Scandinavia was the Academy's limit.

A few years after the last events of Frozen, things have cooled down, as it were, in the pseudo-Norwegian kingdom of Arendelle. Not much has been happening for our heroes, except that Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) has had trouble proposing to Princess Anna (Kristen Bell), while her older sister, Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), despite getting to be sociable again, retains a life dissatisfaction apparently connected to her growing ice powers -- which helps explain why, when only she can hear a mysterious distant singing voice, she warms up to the idea of following it. Her pursuit leads to something out of an account she heard from her dad (Alfred Molina) in childhood, involving agitated spirits of the classical elements who threaten both Arendelle and the pseudo-Norwegian Northuldra tribe. At the advice of a troll elder (Ciarán Hinds), she sets out for an enchanted forest for a solution, accompanied by Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf the living snowman (Josh Gad).

Legends of the Fall (1994)

No, it has nothing to do with The Fall. Reportedly, the title refers to the biblical Fall, but I'd hardly know from the movie itself: The characters aren't particularly religious and never say anything about the events of Genesis. Maybe the relevance is clearer in the Jim Harrison novella from which this is adapted.

The Netflix description makes it sound primarily like a war movie, but that's only for the first act. In 1914, Montana rancher William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins), despite having served as a colonel, is disillusioned with the government and doesn't want his three sons to fight in World War I, but Samuel (Henry Thomas) and Alfred (Aidan Quinn) insist. Tristan (Brad Pitt) feels obliged to come along to protect Samuel, not least for the sake of Samuel's intended, Susannah (Julia Ormond). Since Netflix hinted as much, I might as well tell you he fails. The rest of the story is shaped by this failure.

The In-Laws (1979)

For a picture I'd barely heard of, this was apparently pretty influential. It got a remake, it inspired Marlon Brando to work with writer Andrew Bergman, it appeared among Premiere's 50 favorite comedies, and someone on a forum I attend linked to a clip of the "serpentine" scene. That scene alone didn't make me want to watch, but there was enough popularity to give it a try.

Oddly enough, the main characters, who are not in-laws until the end, become a type you can't easily designate with one hyphenated term: fathers of the spouses. The bride's dad, Sheldon (Alan Arkin), is a New York dentist. The groom's dad, Vince (Peter Falk), does secretive work that requires frequent travel. They've barely met before Vince desperately requests Sheldon's naive help in picking up a hidden package. Soon the truth emerges: Vince works for the CIA, but what he's doing right now isn't exactly government sanctioned. Or safe even for an unwitting aid.